Ancestors of Arthur Dwight "Buck" Lackey--McGinnis Family branch

The ancestor families of Arthur Lackey include the Matheson, Beckham, McGinnis, Kirby, Doub, Bogle, Smith, Walker, Helsebeck. Stevenson, Spainhour, Fiscus, Junck and Spitteler families that ended up in Alexander, Wilkes and Forsyth Counties in North Carolina. This section focuses on the McGinnis Family branch.

Stories

#8 John McGINNIS and Priscilla WALKER

John McGINNIS was born in Wilkes County,
North Carolina in 1810.[1] His wife Priscilla WALKER was also born in
Wilkes County, North Carolina in 1812.[2] No information is known on
their parents. John and Priscilla married in Wilkes County and their
marriage bond is for December 14, 1835.[3]

John
and Priscilla had ten children. Their first child, Martha, was born in
1836.[4] Within the next four years, the couple had two more children a
boy and a girl who both died before the 1850 census was taken.[5] Next
came Elizabeth (1841), Theresa (1844), George (1845), Mary (1849),
Isaac (1851), Sarah (1854) and James (1860).[6]

In
1840, the young family was living in Captain Kilby’s District on
Warrior’s Creek in south Wilkes County.[7] The family continued to live
in North Carolina until just after their daughter Mary was born in
1849. They then moved to Tennessee where they are listed on the 1850
census for Washington County. John’s occupation on the census was
a farmer.[8] By 1860, the family was back in Watauga County, North Carolina in Valle Crucis.

John
and Priscilla are listed on the 1870 Watauga County Census living by
themselves.[9] This is curious, as at this time three of their children
would have been underage. Isaac would have been 19, Sarah 16 and James
10 years old. Isaac is not found individually on the 1870 census but he
shows up later on the 1910 Watauga County Census so he had likely left
home to work.[10] It is possible that 16-year-old Sarah was married and
also out of the household. Sixteen was a young age to marry but her
sister Theresa married at seventeen. A marriage record has not been
found for Sarah as a fire destroyed many of the records in the Watauga
County courthouse including the marriage registers. It is also possible
that Sarah was deceased. There is no accounting for the absence of
10-year-old James from the census. James has not been located on later
censuses and it is probable that he died as a child.

John
and Priscilla are both listed on the 1870 census as being unable to
write and Priscilla was also unable to read.[11] John is recorded as
being a farmer and Priscilla is listed as keeping house. John owned no
land according to the census and his personal property was valued at
100 dollars.[12] This was an increase from the value of John’s personal
property at $75 in 1860.[13]

Both John
and Priscilla are listed on the 1880 Census for Watauga County with
John at 70 years old and Priscilla at 68.[14] Information on their
whereabouts in 1890 is unavailable as the 1890 census burned. Neither
John nor Priscilla appears on the 1900 census. Therefore, it is assumed
that both John and Priscilla died after 1880 but before 1900.

#15 McGINNIS

Original research has not revealed the name of John McGinnis’s parents. Their son John was born and married in Wilkes County so it is possible that the parents were also from Wilkes County.[1] On the 1840 Wilkes County census there is a James McGinnis on the same page as John that would be of the right age to be John’s father.[2]

There is a book Origin and History of the Magennis Family with Sketches of the Keylor, Swisher, Marchbank and Bryan Families, by John Franklin Meginnis (Williamsport, Va: Heller Brothers Printing House, 1891) that might shed some light on the history of the McGinnis family in Ireland.